Sectional desk



(No Model.)

W. A. EATON.

SEGI'IONAL DESK.

No. 484,357. ,Patented Oct. 11, 1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. EATON, OF MARCELLUS, MICHIGAN.

SECTIONAL DESK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 484,357, dated October 11, 1892.

Application filed March 19. 1892.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. EATON, a citizen of the'United States, residing at Marcellus, county of Cass, State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Sectional Desk, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more particularly to that class of heavy office-desks which has a lower part containing drawers, with a central separation for the feet, and an upper section, which in many instances is closed by a sliding or revolving cover, the upper portion of said desk comprising pigeon-holes and the top of the desk proper, upon which the writing is done.

The object of this invention is to facilitate the handling of said desks, so that they can be more easily carried, and make it possible to pass them through doors otherwise too narrow. This I accomplish by the below described and claimed construction of a sectional desk, and in which description other objects will appear.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure l is a rear elevation of the class of desk referred to. Fig. 2 is a. plan view of Fig. l, with the upper portion above the letters a e removed. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the lower portion of the desk in Fig. 1, with the portions of the desk above 0 c removed and showingparts detached. Fig. i is a perspective view of a broken portion of the front side of the deskenlarged. Fig. 5 shows an enlarged plan view of parts in Fig. 4, with a portion of the desk in section on line 1 1; and Fig. 6 is a detail showing the fastening device n and nut 2', parts of the desk being shown in section.

The lower portion of the desk, in which the drawers are located, consists of two end chests A A, separated from each other by a frame 0, and a back board B, detachably connected with the upper ends of said chests. This back board is employed for'the purpose of leaving a space between it and the frame 0 for the sliding or revolving cover (said cover not being here shown) employed in the tops of certain closed desks; but as this forms no part of my invention, when the sliding cover referred to is not employed, the back board may in manyiinstances be dispensed with.

Each end of the frame 0 is provided with Serial No. 425,527. (No model.)

dowels f f, which detachably fit into holes in the chests when the frame and chests are connected together, as at the left in Fig. 3. The dowels s in Fig. 1 will serve to illustrate the idea, showing how they enter the holesin the woodwork of the chests.

The back board B is provided at each end with dowels s, which detachably fitinto holes in the chests in the same manner as do the dowels f referred to. In order to hold these parts securely and yet detachably together, I provide each of the chests with screw-threaded projections i i, which projections pass through holes in the ends of the frame O and are provided with thumb-nuts, as in Fig. 3.

In order to fasten the top board D onto the chests A A, I provide said chests with a suitable number of upwardly-projecting pins, which pass up through holes in the ends of the top board D, which projections 02 are provided with nuts 2, which screw down onto the top board. These projections it may be attached to the chest A in any suitable manner after the nuts .2 are placed on. A convenient way is to screw-threadthe lower ends of the projections 92 and screw them into the chest A, as clearly shown in Fig. 6. The projections 'n are headed at the upper end for the purpose below stated.

The top of the desk, which contains the pigeon-holes, is shown at E, commonly styled a globe top.

So far as the construction thus far described is concerned, this or any other style of top, or no top at all, may be employed and still produce a desk of detachable parts; but the plan of detachably connecting the top E with the top of the desk, as here shown, will in some instances dispense with the use of the nuts .2, the latter being, especially desirable in very heavy desks, requiring to have the parts more firmly held. The projections 01 referred to extend up into holes made in the under side of the top E, said holes being illustrated at t in Fig. 5. Mortises h are formed in the sides of the top E, which mortises intercept the holes t.

At W is shown a key consisting of a rail having forked projections 12, which detachably fit into the mortises h beneath the heads of the projections it, thus detachably attaching the top part E. A space is left between the rail and the side of the top E for holding envelopes, paper, and the like. When removing the desk, the keys W are removed and the top E taken off. Next the top board D is removed and then the chest-sA are separated from the frame C and the back board B, when all the parts can be carried separately up flights of stairs and through narrow passage-ways and doors, after which the parts are all put together again, making as perfect and fine appearing a desk as though all the parts were made solid by glueing or otherwise in the first place.

In Fig. 1 are shown two doors F F, one hinged to one of the chests A and the other to the other, so as to swing around against the inside of the chests when open and when detaching said chests. These doors are at Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-- A desk comprising separated chests detachably connected together and having upwardly-extending projections at the ends, a top two witnesses.

WILLIAM A. EATON. Witnesses: I

EZRA O. GARD, W. L. R001. 

